Swedish pole vaulter Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis broke his world record with a clearance of 6.29m at the Hungarian Grand Prix meeting in Budapest on Tuesday, the 13th time he has set a world-best mark.
The double Olympic champion continued his tradition of improving on his previous mark by 1cm, with his second attempt at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial overhauling the record he set in Stockholm in June.
Duplantis had looked a little off his best form, missing his first attempt at 6.11m, and after Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis retired after failing twice at the same height the Swede had the bar raised to make his usual world record attempt.
The 25-year-old two-time world champion was unsuccessful on his first try, and while he rattled the bar slightly on his second effort, Duplantis looked up almost in disbelief to see that he had once again reached new heights in a discipline he is utterly dominating.
Duplantis, who won his second world title in the stadium in 2023, ran straight to the crowd to celebrate with his partner Desire Inglander and his family.
US-born Duplantis first broke the world record in 2020 in Poland. Since then he has taken the sport to another level, and on Saturday he competes at the Silesia Diamond League, where he also broke the world record last year.
Reuters
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